Latest NGC objects Stories

[ Video 1 ] | [ Video 2 ] | [ Video 3 ] Lee Rannals for redOrbit.com - Your Universe Online A new image released by the European Space Observatory (ESO) illustrates the bright star cluster NGC 6520, located in one of the richest star fields in the sky. Astronomers using ESO's La Silla Observatory in Chile took advantage of the Wide Field Imager on the telescope to snap the image. The image not only shows off NGC 6520, but also its neighbor, the strange dark cloud known as Barnard...

[ Video 1 ] | [ Video 2 ] Lee Rannals for redOrbit.com - Your Universe Online A new image released by the European Space Observatory (ESO) taken by its Wide Field Imager shows off a section of the Seagull Nebula. The cloud of dust and glowing gas seen in the image that forms the "wings" of the seagull reveals a mix of dark and glowing red clouds. The Seagull Nebula, or IC 2177, lies between the constellations of Canis Major and Monoceros in the southern sky. Astronomers refer to...

[ Video 1 ] | [ Video 2 ] | [ Video 2 ] NASA/ESA Hubble Heritage Team The NASA/ESA Hubble Space Telescope – with a little help from an amateur astronomer – has produced one of the best views yet of nearby spiral galaxy Messier 106. Located a little over 20 million light-years away, practically a neighbor by cosmic standards, Messier 106 is one of the brightest and nearest spiral galaxies to our own. Despite its appearance, which looks much like countless other galaxies, Messier...

redOrbit Staff & Wire Reports - Your Universe Online Shockwaves originating from the central starburst region of galaxy Messier 82 (M82) are most likely the source of bright clouds within a “cap” of gas clouds located some 40,000 light years away, astronomers have discovered. Kyoto University’s Dr. Kazuya Matsubayshi and an international team of colleagues observed the nearby starburst galaxy, which is located approximately 12 million light-years away in the constellation Ursa...

redOrbit Staff & Wire Reports – Your Universe Online Through detailed study of the constellation Ursa Major, astronomers have reportedly found two new clouds of hydrogen gas, one which is a faint dwarf galaxy, and the other which could be a proto dwarf galaxy that has not yet had a chance to form any stars. The research team, led by Case Western Reserve University astronomy professor Chris Mihos, have dubbed the gas clouds – which are formally named G1425+5235 and G1355+5439...

redOrbit Staff & Wire Reports - Your Universe Online While searching for data looking for star-forming regions around a galaxy located more than 200 million light years away, researchers have accidentally discovered that it is, in fact, the largest known spiral galaxy in the entire universe. As reported Friday by BBC News reporter Jason Palmer, a research assistant from NASA’s Goddard Space Flight Center and colleagues from the Catholic University of America (CUA), the University...

[Watch the Video: A close look at the globular star cluster 47 Tucanae] redOrbit Staff & Wire Reports - Your Universe Online Using their Visible and Infrared Survey Telescope for Astronomy (VISTA), astronomers at the European Southern Observatory (ESO) have managed to capture a new infrared image of 47 Tucanae, the second most massive globular cluster in the galaxy. The picture, which was released by the ESO on Thursday, depicts the cluster “in striking detail,” the...

April Flowers for redOrbit.com - Your Universe Online The National Optical Astronomy Observatory (NOAO) and WIYN partners have offered this extraordinary wide-field image of the Cygnus loop as an end of the year finale. The image, three degrees to a side, covers an area of the sky about 45 times that of the full moon without sacrificing high resolution. The image is one of the largest astronomical images ever made at over 600 million pixels in size. Located some 1,500 light-years from...

Lee Rannals for redOrbit.com – Your Universe Online NASA and the European Space Agency (ESA) have released a new Hubble Space Telescope image of the planetary nebula NGC 5189. In the essence of the Christmas spirit, ESA describes the cosmic structure of the eruption as a "giant and brightly colored ribbon in space." The structure visible within NGC 5189 is particularly dramatic, and the space agencies said the image is the most detailed yet image of this object. Planetary...

[ Video 1 ] | [ Video 2 ] Lee Rannals for redOrbit.com - Your Universe Online A new image released by the European Space Observatory (ESO) shows off a spectacular view of the star-forming Carina Nebula, and is being released right in time for an inauguration. Astronomers captured the Carina Nebula using the Very Large Telescope (VLT) Survey Telescope at ESO's Paranal Observatory. The image was released on the occasion of the inauguration of the telescope in Naples on Thursday. The...